Rizz goes round the world

The End of Days: Heading Bush's Grand Finale

The tour had officially ended with our big night out on Wednesday the 8th, but fortunately all of us were staying at least until Thursday, and most of us through until Saturday, meaning I'd actually have friends aroung on my birthday! So it wasn't time for goodbye yet. Thursday morning some of us planned to meet at 12:30 for lunch and spend some quality time at the internet cafe burning all of our photos onto shared cds, then meet poolside at Mike's hostel to finish up the beers left over from the road. Lunch ended up being a bit later than 12:30 (oops), and quality time with the internet turned into 4 hours for poor Claire. Hans ended up by himself waiting poolside for a bit--poor guy--but we eventually all showed up, ready for a dip and beer o'clock. Unfortunately Mike had fallen asleep and we couldn't get into the truck. After a bit more frustration, finally we were reunited happily with each other and our beer. It was a lovely, low key afternoon that stretched into evening, complete with plotting to kidnap Mike and make him drive us to Darwin and then down the West Coast (fortunately he was keen on the idea, so we didn't end up having to buy the roofies we'd planned to buy. He even rang his boss to see if he could work something out, but, alas, it was an impossibility), a chat about politics with Hans, and interesting conversation with a guy who'd be travelling south with Mike and Claire that I called Daisy, thanks to his penchant for wearing skin tight daisy dukes. I fell asleep happily on my last night as a 26-year-old, content to know I'd be surrounded with my close friends the next day.

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to stick around for the 10th: Hans was going to meet friends elsewhere in Oz, and Sam and Marianne were heading to check out the Devil's Marbles, yet more rocks in the middle of nowhere that tourists flock to. Still, my birthday was absolutely epic. It all kicked off with a ceremonial shaving of Claire's head into a mohawk at the banks of Alice Springs' dry river. Then we headed back to Bojangles for the boys (Keith, Alex and Mike) to participate in a steak-eating contest. They all finished their enormous steaks (for Alex, gristle and all) and proudly received their certificates. Then it was off for a bit of a nap in preparation for the night's exploits. And man, were those exploits amazing. First, my feral friends presented me with my fitting gift--hand made soap and candles, which I desperately needed after 10 filthy, smelly days, aptly called "Proudly Feral"-- and my birthday "cake"--french fries with candles in them!!! Classic!!! Here I was, in the middle of freaking nowhere, Australia, in a cowboy bar, with friends I'd known for only 10 days but who had become my family, and who went out of their way to make my birthday a special one. My true family, in the meantime, was back at home listening to the DJ at this middle-of-nowhere bar broadcast live on the internet and keep their eye out for me on the dancefloor while Jessica in Israel and Joey in Oz requested songs and the DJ interviewed me (after which I went to grab my beer only to notice there was a huge cockroach on it. Ew.) And to top it all off, Tate, my almost-2-year-old nephew, even wished me a happy birthday via the DJ. What an absolutely insane chain of connections amongst family and friends, old and new. I sang along once again to Sweet Child Of Mine, reminisced about my Tuftonia days to Like a Prayer, and danced my booty off to the must have been 20 songs Joey had requested. :) It was epic, and one of the best birthdays I've ever had.

All good things must come to an end, though, and sadly, the next morning, it was time to part ways. Susanne was heading up to Darwin on an Awesome Adventures tour, which was nowhere near awesome after the HB Experience. Claire and Mike were heading back down to Adelaide on the return trip, and I was off on a flight to Cairns. Emma would stay on for a few days in Alice, after which she'd fly to Sydney and later home. Alex would head up to Darwin in a few days, and Sile and Keith were heading out to Cairns via bus. Hans had already departed, and Sam and Marianne were milking out a few more days nearby before heading back down to Melbourne to return to work. No more sharing spare leg room in the back of a bouncing Trailrunner, no more sleeping huddled together around the fire in swags, no more dancing like emus at Melanka's. Still, we were together in spirit, hokey as it may sound, and my new friends have helped me vastly as I've continued on in my journey. Emails with the whole crew, pictures up on flickr, and copious texts with Claire, Emma and Mike have gotten me through lonely times, and I got to reunite with Sile and Keith a couple of times along the East Coast (the last time almost made me miss my flight to Singapore...Oops). I am sad that my Outback adventure is behind me, but still it remains with me, and the emotions I felt remain just as visceral over a month later. Instead of mourning the end, I consider myself lucky and blessed to have even had the opportunity to experience what I did and meet the people I met. Still, I remain a bit of a wannabe Billy Pilgrim, longing desperately to be able to become unstuck in time (though perhaps have a bit more control over it than poor Billy had). But life moves on, and brilliant new adventures await. I'm sure this won't be the last time I feel this way. And for now, I'll remain with my happy memories and changed life, until I meet my friends again, next year in America's Painted Desert, for our first Heading Bush reunion. It's on!

posted by La Rizz @ 1:12 AM